Outreach For Kids

Coordinators

Charleston MTS office has 28 service coordinators and the caseloads (at full capacity) will hold any where from 10-12 cases/clients per service coordinator. So by the end of March, we should have about 335 children just at our MTS office.

We work with clients from Charleston and Berkeley counties but they are placed all over the state. And other than the medically fragile caseload, our clients typically run from 10-18.

The Community Development Committee (CDC) at MTS consists of Marett McClure Bishop, April McDougall, Sharon Parsonage, Robert Linares and Jennifer Wallace. We are the committee that got about 80% of our almost 300 clients sponsored for Christmas.

Success Stories

  • I have been working with MTS since May of 2005. My first four cases were siblings ranging from ages 9 to 15, all placed in different therapeutic foster homes. The eldest was a bright, young teenager who desperately wanted to be “normal.”

    Since the day I met her, she has wanted braces for her teeth. Every picture I had seen of her, she was smiling with her mouth closed. She was embarrassed by her crooked teeth. Then we began working with Outreach for Kids, whose primary focus at the time, was helping out with birthdays for our clients.

    I brought this situation up to Lori Stoney, via email. And Lori was so taken by the story that she worked diligently to raise the money for the braces and locate an orthodontist to comp the actual work. So for her 16th birthday, we were able to get her the braces she had always wanted.

    You would have thought we had just bought her a car, she was thrilled. Now I can keep her from smiling, and trust me, that’s a great thing! It has also done wonders for her self-esteem.

    Jennifer S. Wallace

    Department of Social Services/
    Managed Treatment Services for Children

  • I have been working with the Department of Social Services for 9 years now, the last 8 with Managed Treatment Services. The cases I manage are mostly of older children who have been in care for a number of years and they are past the point of returning home to a family member.

    I have had the opportunity of reunifying a few of my clients over the years and even had two adolescents adopted! I have learned a lot about children, but probably more about myself. I tell all my clients that the work I do with them is not only extremely rewarding because of what it teaches me about myself, but I also have an opportunity to gain experience working with such diverse personalities.

    I have gotten to the point in my career where there really aren't many surprises at all, and because of the diversity, I have experience working with most of the clinical issues that develop in our children through years of their dysfunctional upbringing.

    My job is not for everybody, it can be very stressful, taxing and often difficult to leave "work at work" if you know what I mean. As I end this, here is a story of a young man I worked with for about two years, who I often think about when I need strength to keep going.

    I met "Sam" back in 2000. "Sam" was paralyzed from the waist down secondary to being shot by another teen, while he was in foster care. "Sam" handled his paralysis very poorly. He was hospitalized, numerous times because he simply would not take care of himself. He suffered from severe bouts of depression, missed a lot of school, so things looked bleak.

    "Sam" began to, as he puts it "stop acting like a victim, feeling sorry for myself", and began working on his life. He finished two years of school in one and graduated from high school with diploma. The loudest cheer in the gym that evening was for "Sam". He enrolled in a local technical college where he majored in computer design and repair.

    Sam" purchased a car and with the agency's assistance, had it reconfigured with hand controls. "Sam" got a job a medical supply warehouse, and later became the supervisor there. He continues to work there full time while he contemplates his next move. He built a house a couple of years ago and maintains a close, positive relationship with his former foster parents.

    Sam" wants to go back to school and get another degree in business. He does computer troubleshooting on the side, really as a hobby. I don't speak with "Sam" as often as I would like, but I utilize his story to bring hope to other children who have little hope for their future.

    Robert Linares

    Service Coordinator II
    Managed Treatment Services for Children
    2420 Mall Dr./Suite 110
    North Charleston,SC 29406

© Copyright Outreach For Kids 2008